Day 16 - Villa Blanca Cloud Forest
We didnt have a good nights sleep. After going to the toilet at 2 am the cistern didnt stop filling. It was noisy and I couldnt get to sleep. Paul eventually woke up an hour later and then spent some time trying to fix it. By this time we were both wide awake so had a coffee before going back to sleep.
I had left my clothes out ready to put on this morning but they were very damp so I had to get something else out of the suitcase to wear. All the others said the same.
After breakfast we had a guided tour of the rainforest in this area. It had been raining heavily and was still dripping from the trees when we set off. It was also very misty and we couldnt see far but this is normal.
We saw a frog, sleeping under a leaf and also some very large spider webs. There are many leafcutter ant colonies around and the guide told us how the workers cut the leaves and carry them to the colony with very small cleaner ants on the leaf who remove all traces of bacteria before getting to the nest. There are Quality Control ants at the colony who decide which leaves are good and will discard any they dont like. The guide then stamped on the ground and showed us how the worker ants run into the nest and the soldier ants come out to confront the danger. Absolutely amazing creatures.
He explained a lot about the trees and plants of the cloud forest. We heard a few birds but didnt see any until we came to the end at the hummingbird feeder station. A few of us had a go at holding the feeders and Paul took photos. I could hear them flapping around behind me but was surprised to see they had landed on the hood of my jacket.
I went out on my own (as Paul wasnt feeling brilliant) and redid the trail from last night. Again I didnt see much except for an ant carrying what was quite a big fruit along the path. I also went back into the Frog Garden and saw 2 frogs.
At 1.30pm I went on a "Forest Bathing" Walk out of curiosity. We did the same trail as this morning. The lady taking it got us to stand under a 200 year old tree in the forest and do some breathing exercises to relax ourselves. We then continued to walk, stopping every now and again to concentrate on one of our senses, starting with smell where we touched some plants, smelling our fingers afterwards. Some of them were very nice. This was followed by listening, touching and seeing what was around us. The seeing bit was the hummingbird station. We didnt taste anything but she did take everyone back to reception where she had some cheese but I chose to stay watching the hummingbirds. There were a few more birds around but I havent seen many butterflies.
Our last Costa Rica excursion was a night walk in the cloud forest. It was raining for much of the time and we really were in the clouds as it wasnt possible to see very far. It was light when we started the walk and we saw a tarantula spider. We saw many little frogs including the Red Eyed Tree Frog and the Mexican Tree Frog.
We saw some birds sleeping in trees or under large leaves in the forest. We also saw a stick insect and a toad as well as a lizard resting in a bush. The highlight was seeing a Pacific Screech Owl.
As we finished our tour and went back to reception there was a very large moth on the floor. It had been caught in a spiders web and the tour guide removed the remaining web and it started fluttering. He said it was called a "Four Window Moth" because of the window like markings on its wings.
We had a snack at the restaurant and said goodbye to the others, some of whom are going home tomorrow while others are going to extensions within Costa Rica.
After finished our packing, Paul lit the fire and we sat in front of it in the rocking chairs drinking Pauls last can of lager.
We leave for the airport at 5.15 tomorrow morning so will be saying goodbye to Costa Rica and moving on to Panama.
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